Imaging data maps: formats and practices for teaching and learning

Mapping spatial data requires both scientific knowledge and a solid grasp of visual hierarchies—a combination that can be challenging for designers new to the field. Through selected case studies, we will explore tools and visual strategies that help combine scientific rigour with effective design. The discussion will provide an overview of formats, methods, and outputs to inspire future educational approaches.

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Enrico Bravi is a graphic and information designer based in Vienna. He studied at ISIA Urbino and Werkplaats Typografie in the Netherlands. His work focuses on information design, book design, and cartography, often in collaboration with cultural institutions across Europe. Since 2008, he has also been active in teaching and is currently a senior artist at the University of Arts Linz, as well as a lecturer at FH Salzburg and Vienna Technical University.

Too complex? Try playing with it!

At the Alghero School of Design, our research unit animazionedesign has been increasingly involved in unconventional communication projects for public engagement, education, and cultural heritage. Gamification, once distant from our field, is now central to our work. We explore how playful experiences can make communication more effective by encouraging inclusive, interactive participation based on direct public involvement.

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Nicolò Ceccarelli is Full Professor in Design at DADU-Sassari, where he leads the research unit AnimazioneDesign. His work explores Neo-Local Design and information architecture, which led to the 2CO COmmunicating COmplexity platform. Notable projects include Sardinia’s EXPO Milano participation, the ArtiJanas installation at Milan’s Triennale, and Play Alghero, promoting playful, digital-physical experiences for cultural heritage.

The stochastic parrot that no one wants to listen to (anymore)

The Web briefly aspired to be a bottom-up network of documents, but is now dominated by fast-scrolling formats and centralized platforms. Meanwhile, AI techniques like tokenization and embedding are reshaping how we store and access knowledge. This talk offers a short historical perspective and explores emerging trends in knowledge organization and visual reasoning, with case studies from dashboards to AI-generated datasets showing how data is created, explored, and consumed.

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Graduated in Architecture (Design track) from Politecnico di Milano, with a PhD from the University of Sassari, he collaborates with Alghero’s AnimazioneDesign lab on design, teaching, and research. Based in Madrid, he works as a visual and interaction designer, focusing on communication design, digital media, and data visualization. His interests include participatory design and cultural management, especially for exhibition events. His research led to the publication of Design per i luoghi: Eventi espositivi tra comunità e conoscenza (Franco Angeli, Open Access, 2022).

Infovis without borders: co-designing local narratives within an international team

From a project developed by Datadot for the UN (UNDP), we will show how co-design practices integrate diverse perspectives on complex subjects, resulting in information design projects that highlight both the people and the data that tell their stories. Starting from individual journeys, we connect community and territory to showcase innovative actions transforming their realities.

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Flávia Marinho is an information designer with over fifteen years of experience, a mentor at the Data Visualization Society, and has served as a juror for major awards such as the Brasil Design Awards and the Brazilian Design Biennial. Otávio Burin is a designer and holds a master’s degree from FAU-USP; he works in the management and development of design projects and conducts research in the field of information design. In 2014, they founded Datadot, a design studio that has collaborated with organizations such as the UN, Amnesty International, B3, Alana Institute and Natura&Co.

Is it real, artificial, surreal, or natural?

The project proposes investigative methods into visual culture, graphic memory, and emerging languages to create visual narratives within the field of communication design. Through a pluriversal approach, it integrates four forms of intelligence—artificial, environmental, ancestral, and artisanal—as the framework for a discussion on contemporary design education and practice.

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Didiana Prata is a graphic designer and holds a PhD in Design from FAUUSP. Her research focuses on visual culture and digital humanities applied to innovation and communication design projects. She works at her own studio, Prata Design, creating visual identities, editorial, curatorial, and exhibition design projects. She is a professor of Information Design at Centro Universitário FAAP, a member of C4AI Inova USP, GAIA – the USP Arts and Artificial Intelligence Group – and Lab Outros – CNPq/FAUUSP.

Video production in exhibition spaces

Exhibition spaces have expanded beyond object display to include information, conveyed through architecture, video, digital tools, graphics, and installations. These elements foster visitor engagement, making experiences meaningful and unique. This presentation examines video production for two São Paulo exhibitions—“Espaço Olavo Setúbal” and “Espaço Herculano Pires”—showing how information displays are created within distinct communication systems.

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Luciana Eguti, an Architecture graduate from São Paulo University with a Computer Animation degree from Sheridan College, worked as a designer and art director before moving into animation. In 2005, she co-founded Birdo with Paulo Muppet, a multi-awarded studio producing Brazilian animation for global audiences. Birdo’s original shows have won prizes like the Prix Jeunesse IberoAmericano, appeared in The New York Times’ Top 10 Best New Shows of 2018, and the studio created the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic mascots.

Immersion in Action: From Virtual Narratives to Real-World Impact

This talk explores how immersive VR design can enhance the sense of presence by combining narrative-driven experiences inside the headset with synchronous physical interventions in the external environment. Drawing on projects that reached over 25 million people and sparked wide media discussion, we will examine how bridging virtual storytelling and real-world cues can create embodied experiences that amplify immersion and emotional engagement.

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Luiz Evandro is a multimedia director and founder of experienced.studio. He holds degrees in Marketing from FGV and in Design from Art Center College of Design, Los Angeles. His work in immersive storytelling and virtual reality has been presented at the MIT MediaLab and highlighted by Fast Company as a global example of innovation. He also served as Jury President for Innovation at the 2023 D&AD Awards in London and has received over 100 international distinctions.

Immersion in Action: From Virtual Narratives to Real-World Impact

This talk explores how immersive VR design can enhance the sense of presence by combining narrative-driven experiences inside the headset with synchronous physical interventions in the external environment. Drawing on projects that reached over 25 million people and sparked wide media discussion, we will examine how bridging virtual storytelling and real-world cues can create embodied experiences that amplify immersion and emotional engagement.

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Luiz Evandro is a multimedia director and founder of experienced.studio. He holds degrees in Marketing from FGV and in Design from Art Center College of Design, Los Angeles. His work in immersive storytelling and virtual reality has been presented at the MIT MediaLab and highlighted by Fast Company as a global example of innovation. He also served as Jury President for Innovation at the 2023 D&AD Awards in London and has received over 100 international distinctions.